Four-star beachfront resorts and upscale waterfront hotels with all the amenities spread across the 120-mile Florida Keys offer diving adventures in the only living-coral barrier reef of the United States. Key Largo, Key West, Islamorada, Marathon, the Big Pine Key and Lower Keys offer some of the best night diving, wreck diving, snuba diving and deep sea diving in warm clear waters of the Atlantic, the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary or the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park.
Little Palm Island Resort is a secluded tropical paradise, only accessible by boat or seaplane, which offers guests a PADI Resort Dive Center that hosts a variety of safe, guided tours in the warm coastal waters. The Looe Key Dive, for example, offers swimmers a glimpse of the distinctive coral formations and multitude of marine life in the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary. The resort also offers this excursion on its twi-nite dive during the summer, where swimmers dive after sunset. In addition, the PADI Resort Dive Center offers introductory and review courses for beginners or those that want take a refresher course. All dives are set on a 30-foot Coast Guard licensed and inspected boat and led by experienced scuba instructors. They also offer wreck diving with the Adolphus Busch Dive, which explores a 210-foot ship approximately 115 feet under water. This resort offers four-star accommodations, which include bungalow suites, premiere bungalow suites and island grand suites with deluxe amenities.
Little Palm Island Resort & Spa
28500 Overseas Highway
Little Torch Key, FL 33042
(800) 343-8567
littlepalmisland.com/Florida_Keys_Dive_Shop.aspx
The Looe Key Reef Resort offers diving adventures in the nearby Looe Key National Marine Sanctuary, where divers can discover coral fingers averaging 8 feet, sand channels, mooring sites and multitudes of fish and marine life. Guests may also go wreck diving in the Adolphus Busch Artificial Reef on Wednesdays where divers can survey the 210-foot long ocean freighter surrounded by tropical fish and 250-pound groupers. The resort offers single or double-room accommodations, just steps away from the dive shop, with views of the pool, Tiki bar and the Mangrove Waterways of Ramrod Key. Rooms come with cable television, air conditioning, telephone services and free wireless Internet.
The Looe Key Reef Resort
27340 Overseas Highway
Ramrod Key, FL 33042
1-800-942-5397
diveflakeys.com/index.html
The Amoray Dive Resort, a PADI National Geographic Gold Palm Resort once rated by Scuba Diving Magazine as the best in the Florida Keys, provides dive adventures aboard its 45-foot diving vessel. The boat travels through the Marvin D. Adams Waters passing the Caribbean, and then drifting through mangroves. Divers explore water depths anywhere from 6 to 45 feet discovering tropical fish, coral reefs and wrecks such as the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Duane. In addition the resort offers specialty courses such as underwater photography, reef ecology, enriched air Nitrox (EAN) and night diving. The resort offers one-bedroom accommodations on a Caribbean-style plantation, with air conditioning, ceiling fans, cable television and screened porches.
The Amoray Dive Resort
104250 Overseas Highway
Key Largo, FL 33037
1 (800) - 4AMORAY
www.amoray.com/
Hawks Cay Resort is a 60-acre private island that offers divers a first-hand look at bright, multi-colored coral reefs in addition to sea creatures such as turtles and schools of tropical fish through its Dive Duck Key experience. The scuba adventures include night diving, snuba diving, and wreck diving where divers are guided through the warm waters by trained and certified instructors. The resort also offers a one-day resort scuba course for kids ages 10 and up. The accommodations offer guest rooms, suites and more than 100 preferred villas, with sleek contemporary décor and numerous first-class amenities.
Hawks Cay Resort
61 Hawks Cay Boulevard
Duck Key, FL 33050
1(877) 386-3483
experience.hawkscay.com/diving
